Ever since the clock was miniaturized to form the watch, there have been a number of ways to attach the new type of timepiece to a person or his clothing. Among these are pocket watches, clip-on watches, ring watches, and of course, today's popular version, the wristwatch.
The popularity of the wristwatch has generated a myriad of watch designs for both the watch case and the watchband. The most traditional designs include a generally circular, or rectangular watch case having two, somewhat rectangular, elongated watchband segments, each attached to the watch case at opposing sides, usually adjacent the numeral "12" and "6", respectively (of the watch face). Each band segment is attached to the watch case with a pair of band support arms (hereinafter called "support arm") which are generally formed integrally with the watch case. An inside face of each support arm includes a small detent for receiving one end of a spring-loaded pin. The two ends of the pin engage the two respective detents and bridge the pin between the two adjacent support arms. The watchband is looped around this pin and is thereby attached to the watch case.
Another commonly used type of fastener for securing the watchband to the watch case is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 302,134 issued to Woomer, Jul. 11, 1989. The watch of U.S. Pat. No. 302,134 includes a single band support arm fixed at opposing ends of the watch case and located centrally of each band end. In this case, each support arm (two per watch) includes a threaded opening for receiving two band securement screws, two screws are used to secure each band segment to their respective support arm. The result is a watchband that is symmetrically attached to a watch case so that the watch case has the appearance of being more "delicate" than the prior watch case-to-band fastening arrangements including those having two support arms for each band segment.